Replies to This Discussion

These people are scary! They asked him how atheists deal with a crisis situation but didn't let him answer the question. They just ganged up on him. How frustrating for him to be the only sensible person in the room!

That is typical faux news reporting style. if you aren't saying something they agree with, they literally shout over you to shut you up, because they know that people want to be polite on cable tv and they don't have to hold themselves to those same standards.

How mocking was that news anchor - "Preparing with candles and batteries"; in a VERY mocking tone? At least let him acknowledge that mocking is OK, or is it only OK against those mocking atheists who can't see something outside of their physical selves?

And that woman; Q: "Could 'God' stop the hurricane?"

"NO ! ! ! . . . That's not why you believe in an after life . . . I don't believe in a spiritual life so that someone could stop hurricanes".

In other words let's shout down any difficult details elucidated - either 'God' is not all powerful, or 'God' wants to leave the hurricane alone. Anyway, in her fury, the woman told us that 'God' is not all powerful, ie. can't stop hurricanes.

I think "sky daddy" is perfect. The point is to get people defending & questioning their beliefs. They've grown use to falling back on fuzzy terms like "spirit" without seeing the ridiculousness of it.

And, remember, Dave's intent is to be hard hitting and direct. If people are offended, that gets them talking, either to closeted atheists or fence sitters, or to you and me who can then further engage them. The more conversation, the better.

On Fox News, you have to understand and accept that they will antagonize to try to make you look ridiculous too. If you're going to appear on Fox News and not plan on ass-kissing the Koch brothers' cronies and the Christian God, you might want to use tactics similar to this, if your intention is to get them to talk about you long after you exit the building. If he just dismissed "spirits" and didn't use terms like "sky daddy," he would have been forgotten immediately. I guarantee you that show was butthurt about that for a week, and continually brought it up afterwards.

I agree with the points Daniel Sun made. Mr Silverman could have done better. I wonder how he feels about how it went. It wouldn't surprise me if he left there thinking "I could have handled that a bit better if only they hadn't attacked me like a pack of rabid wolves.....".